Okay, sorry it's taken forever for me to update.. So, we went on a mission trip to Asia a few weeks ago. First stop.. Tokyo, Japan. The Leeland guys played a show there, so we got to spend a few days there. Tokyo is so cool! Very modern, very clean.
The show went great! The venue was full, and people responded really well. Praise God!
So then we left for Siem Reap, Cambodia. Not at all like Tokyo! Haha.. Though Siem Reap is the second largest city in Cambodia, so it was pretty nice. We loved our hotel! But we weren't there long...
The next morning, we drove to Anlong Veng. Just a little back story.. Cambodia is a country that has been greatly affected by a civil war. It started in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge started taking over, driving people out of the cities, killing all the doctors and government officials. They killed all the "smart" people and took all the farmers and worked them literally to death. In 4 years, they killed somewhere between 2 and 3 million people. It's unbelievable. In 1979, Vietnam came and pushed the Khmer Rouge all the way up to the north (where Anlong Veng is located), and for the next twenty years, they were at war. Finally, in 2003, the war ended. So, these people are still trying to recover from this. Most of the people live in poverty.
We had the opportunity to go to some of the villages where Food for the Hungry works. It was great to see what God is doing in this country. FH comes into a community and brings the people together. They show them the resources they have and teach them how to solve their problems. Then the people don't rely on FH to meet all their needs. They now have confidence to do things on their own. And you can see it in their countenance.
Jack and I got to meet our sponsored child, Phanna, and his family. It was so cool to meet him and see where he lives. He has brothers and sisters and even a twin! His mother and grandmother were very sweet and served us fruit. Now we'll have a picture in our minds when we pray for Phanna. (This also happened to be on our 2nd anniversary - one we'll never forget!)
We were in Cambodia for about 6 days, part of the time in Anlong Veng, and the last part in Siem Reap. Thankfully we got to rest in Siem Reap for a few days because everyone was getting sick. But they were able to rest and get well. We got to go to some amazing temples. They're thousands of years old! So crazy! Our favorite was Beng Malea, where we got to climb all over the rocks and explore like Indiana Jones. Ha..
From there, we flew to Dhaka, Bangladesh. And boy, was it a culture shock!! There are people everywhere! There are 160,000,000 people in Bangladesh, which is roughly the size of Wisconsin. Crazy! Way different than Cambodia. The traffic is insane. There are no rules on the road. So we did a lot of praying every time we drove anywhere. Dhaka is also the second dirtiest city in the world. And you'd believe it if you saw it!
Us girls had to wear Shalwar Kameez, which we called "three sheets." It's basically baggy pants, a dress, and a big scarf that must cover your "top area" at all times. If not, you're basically flashing people. So we got super hot! Also, the toilets are basically holes in the ground, "squatty-potties"... Not fun (especially in Shalwar Kameez).
Oh, the eating... You can only eat with your right hand. Your left hand is the dirty hand. And you have to clean your plate. We ate a whole lotta rice! But the food was surprisingly good most of the time. My favorite was non, a flat bread.
Please pray for the FH staff there. There's John and Kate, a wonderful British couple, who are the country directors.. Chelsea, an American who has been there for 3 years.. and Tim and Andrea, American couple who have been there only about 3 months. I really admire them. Bangladesh is definitely somewhere you'd have to be called by God to live in.
So we took a boat ride one night to Champur. Our room in the boat was well, let's just say the sheets probably haven't been washed in a really long time... When we got there at 4 am, we slept on the floor of a guest house. That day, we went to some villages where FH has been working for 15-20 years! Jack and I got to go to visit an adolescent group of girls. And then we went to their homes. They're really small and very close together, but the people were so welcoming. They brought us into their homes and even fed us. It was also cool because each house we went, the people from the last house would follow us. So we didn't actually know who lived where. They were all so close, a true community. They really inspired us.
The people we visited were all "sweeper" families. The government pays them (very little) to sweep the streets. And that's all they can do. And their children grow up thinking that's all they'll ever do. But since FH has come in, they've taught them that they can do more. And it's so cool to see how confident and unashamed these kids are. (Before, they would be ashamed to even say their name because their name basically is a title - in their case, 'sweepers')
We got to play with some kids later in the day. They were so cute, and they danced for us. We taught them the 'hokey pokey' which they loved.
The next day we went back to Dhaka and got to go to an FH school. The little kids were precious! We watched one of the classes. And then we visited their homes. They live in even worse conditions than the kids from Champur. They're in the city, so there's no space. A lot of the families live in old store fronts. We went to one family's home, a family of 6, and they live in one tiny room. It's literally the smallest room I've ever seen. I can't even imagine living there. And so many of these people live like this.
Well, the trip was amazing and life-changing. I'm so glad we went and got to see what FH is doing, but most of all, to meet the people. We will never forget their faces and their stories. Please pray for these people in Cambodia and Bangladesh, that they would come to know God, that the fathers would be able to provide for their families, that the mothers would be respected, that the children would grow up knowing that God has a great plan for their lives. And pray for the FH staff, for strength and health, and that God would fill them up each day so they can pour out on everyone they meet.
To see a lot more pictures, go to my
facebook and look at "Asia Trip" and "Asia Trip Part 2"
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